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Freshman Focus: Charles Garon

11/16/2018, 3:30pm EST

By Joey Lentz

This week we take focus on Charles Garon, who’s already solidifying himself in the league as a formidable opponent to shooters everywhere with an eerily similar style to the former professional goalie who shares the same name and number as Charles. The Jesuit Tigers have found themselves a player promising a return on investment over the next four years every time he takes the crease for the white and blue. Here’s who’s inside the Helmet:

Charles has skated since before he could walk, mainly because his father/assistant coach for the Jesuit Tigers, Mathieu Garon, was an active goalie in the National Hockey League for much of Charles’ early childhood. Mathieu won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, and legend has it that Charles got to celebrate his fifth birthday with Lord Stanley’s Cup after a riveting ball hockey showdown on the street in front of the Garon residence. Not many get to spark their desire to play hockey with the most important trophy in the sport, but the work ethic between the pipes pays testimony to an otherworldly flame that fuels the Jesuit Freshman. I got the opportunity to open up our interview with some “Quick Release Questions”, here’s how Charles responded.

Me: Vasilevskiy or Carey Price?

Charles: Carey Price

Me: You have to choose your first car; would you prefer German engineered or Italian?

Charles: I’d say German. Audi specifically but my dream car right now is a Jeep Wrangler

Me: You have to buy a suit for the LHSHL awards banquet. Are you going with Burberry or Gucci?

Charles: Gucci

Me: You’re at the mall with some friends and want lunch at the food court. What’s the go to restaurant?

Charles: Usually Chipotle

Me: You mess up a drill, what coach is most likely to make you skate a lap or do up-and-downs?

Charles: probably my dad

Me: You’re up 1-0 on a team with only a few seconds left in the game. The opposing team has a breakaway and you have to choose a teammate to be on the back check. Who’s going to help you preserve the shut out?

Charles: *no hesitation* Definitely Josh Burke.

So, with that glimpse into who Charles is as an individual, I decided to delve into the obvious. He was the son of a professional hockey player, playing the same position as his dad, and even wearing the same number as his dad. I wanted to know what hockey was like from both being goalies, to creating a different style Charles could call his own. He told me, “My dad can always help me with his experience. I try to make my style a mirror image of his. I really try to take his work ethic to improve my game” Charles attempts to mirror his dad’s play so much that when I asked why he wore number 32, his response broke down to, “My dad wore it. That’s it.” His mentality for playing in the LHSHL is just as straightforward as his reasonings for the jersey he wears, “When I’m facing a shooter, I don’t care if it’s a travel player or a player from a rec league. I expect everybody to have a good shot. No one gets the benefit of the doubt.”

Charles has big plans for the future, “My dream school is the University of North Dakota because I want to be an engineer.” The University of North Dakota also conveniently has a Division 1 hockey team, but who’s keeping track? As for the short term, Charles has two definitive goals, “I want to win one State Championship for Jesuit, and I want to make it a sport at school. As of right now, ice hockey is just a club.” After looking into the crystal ball of what Charles sees as ideal for the future of his career in hockey, and pathway for life as a whole, I brought him back to the present and asked him to finish with a message to other first year players, as well as a message to fans, team mates, and himself four years from now.

To other first year players in the league:Keep putting in the effort and it’ll work out in the end. Give it all in your practices and you’ll get better.

To the Jesuit locker room:Play more defense.

To those that helped Charles get to where he is today:Thank you. Josh Burke- thank you for being my older brother, for driving me to practice every day, and for reassuring me after I let a goal in and letting me know I got it.

To Charles Garon age 18:Don’t stop trying. It will come together if you put in the effort.